


Christmas Weasley Chess

by steph7of7



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 02:31:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4986670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steph7of7/pseuds/steph7of7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas.  It's the Weasleys.  There's chess.  Look, just because this fic doesn't have a proper title doesn't mean you shouldn't read it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Weasley Chess

Ginny has a memory of Fred. 

 

It was during Christmas holiday--the Christmas when Harry came to the Burrow--late one morning, when everyone was lazy getting started, and George and Ron had started a game of chess at the kitchen table. Ginny sat across from them, flipping through a Quidditch magazine and throwing in the occasional comment. 

The two boys were barely four moves into the game when Fred entered the kitchen with his usual high spirits, his hair still wet from his shower. Naturally, he took George's side in the pitched battle, plunking himself down next to his twin. He began to offer advice, singing it all in a slightly off-pitch booming bass, for no particular reason. "Moooove your kniiiiiiight!" he sang on a descending scale when it was George's turn. George snickered and reached for it, and Fred sang, "No, the other kniiiiiiight!"

It didn't take long for George to start singing back in a matching bass, things like, "Ickle Ronniekins will never see it comiiiiiing!"

Ron, for his part, stayed remarkably quiet, but there were times he couldn't seem to help himself and he would start to say something like, "But if you--" But then he would stop himself and roll his eyes. 

Ginny found the whole thing quite a bit more entertaining than her Quidditch magazine, and couldn't resist warbling back to the twins, in the lowest voice she could manage, "You two will be sorry when Ron kicks your aaaaaarse!"

Fred looked at her condescendingly. "Slim chance of thaaaaaat, little siiiiiiis," he belted out. 

But Ron just shook his head at all of them, which cracked Ginny up even more. Ginny sang, "But he's being quieeeeeet, which means you should worryyyyyyy."

Fred jumped up when Ron's queen was vulnerable. In his excitement, he changed to a tune than ended on a higher key: "Take his QUEEEEN! Take his QUEEEEEEEN!"

George sang back, still on the tune that dropped lower, "He will then take miiiiiine."

"Oh," Fred said, in his normal voice, then quickly resumed singing, still in his excited tune: "But you have him on the RUUUUUUN!"

Ginny snickered, and scooted her chair closer, to better see the game. George shot her a curious glance, and Ginny sang to Fred's excited tune: "I want to see the LOOOOKS on your FACES when Ron CRUSHES YOOOOOUUUUUU!" Ron smirked at her, but kept his peace.

A few more back-and-forths later, when it was Ron's turn, he moved his bishop all the way across the board and spoke his first words in ten minutes: "Check mate."

There was absolute silence for four seconds. One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand--as the siblings studied the board, made sense of Ron's move, and understood that George was well and truly sunk. At the end of those four seconds, Fred, George, and Ginny _exploded_ with screaming laughter: George got up and ran around the table with his hands over his head; Fred fell out of his chair, literally rolling on the floor; and Ginny jumped up on her chair and breathlessly yelled, "I told you! I told you!" In the midst of this, Ron merely leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and chuckled helplessly. 

The noise brought out all of the house. Dad poked his head out from the den, and Bill and Fleur rushed downstairs. "Is everything okay?" they asked, but no one could respond. George could only say, "Ron-- Ron--" in between his helpless laughter. Dad, Bill and Fleur looked at Ron, still leaning back in his chair and chuckling with self-satisfied laughter, then they shook their heads and returned to where they came from. Harry belatedly ran downstairs, his hair still wet from his own shower, asked the same question and got the same answer. Mum came running in, slightly more panicked than the others had been, but when she took in the scene, she demanded, "Is everyone okay?" Harry shrugged at her in confusion, but Mum wouldn't leave until the rest of them at least nodded. Once she was satisfied, she gave them all a look of disgust, turned her back dramatically, and left the kitchen.

But this only made them laugh harder.

 

Ginny holds on to this memory, when she remembers that Fred could sometimes be an arsehole. Because the thing was, Fred could be gracious in defeat. (Ginny tries to learn from it, and tries to be able to laugh at herself when the situation calls for it.)

**Author's Note:**

> (With apologies to Nate and Ry, and of course, congrats to Al. It's one of my favorite memories.)


End file.
